Stuck
by kkann
Summary: Finding themselves trapped in a stopped elevator for a few hours, Torn decides that enough is enough, and that Jak and Keira's relationship really could use his magic touch. Too bad he doesn't seem to know what's considered 'personal'. JxK
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello all! Well, this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but then I started writing it, and well, you'll see how long it got. So, it may very well turn into a two-shot, or perhaps have a total of three chapters. I guess that depends on how far I get into it, and hey, I've started rambling.  
That will end now.

This takes place following the end of _Jak X: Combat Racing_ -as you will see from the beginning- and is set in the inn/hotel the group was staying at.  
Pairing?  
JakxKeira! All the way. (So don't get all perturbed about JxK in this story. That's how it is and how it should be in my book.) Honestly! Ending of _Jak 3_? Don't get me started.

Grr. Keira and Torn have gotten out of character. Well, they all have really, for the sake of this story. They're dancing on that borderline now...

And with that, our story begins.

* * *

It started with the elevator.

Well no, it started the night after the final race and Mizo being blown to bits. Or maybe it started when they awoke the next morning –some with ungodly headaches from allowing themselves an extra drink or two that was more than unnecessary- when a few realized that it was time to return to Haven and their daily routines that never really went as planned. Keira suggested that they remain in Kras City for a few extra days, since they never really relaxed and enjoyed themselves anyway.

It also may have been because their cars weren't in the best condition for long distance travel, and no one was all too eager to be blown sky high when their gas pedal decided that 'going forward' was less appealing than 'monumental explosion caused for some unknown reason, so just shut up and stay in Kras a few more days so Keira can fix the car you moron.'

Ashelin was quick to point out that she still had a score to settle with Rayn –hell, they all did, but Ashelin seemed more eager to get back at the woman than the others did. Daxter also pointed out the remaining thugs once under Mizo's command were still around, along with the addition of the smoke-breathing Razer and the walking hunk of metal known as UR-86 –both of which had randomly disappeared after the final race, even though no one else was really bothered by it. Daxter just had to add his two-sense.

In a fairly un-Keira like manner, the aqua haired mechanic promised to 'take care' of any of Mizo's old cohorts if they were caught breathing within a ten-mile radius of their inn and they were all going to enjoy themselves, dammit, even if she had to bribe, force, manipulate, and/or beat any one of them into submission. (Oh. And she even stomped her foot to emphasize her point. How could you possibly argue with _that _logic?)

That, and she said it would take her a while to fix _all _of their cars, adding that Torn must have thought it would be funny to drive over an activate land mine _just to see what would happen._

That hadn't been the case, but none of them had enough courage to make a retort to the petite girl –who, it turned out, was the youngest of the entire group, something Daxter liked to pick at and she tried to ignore- for fear of either:

a) being beaten with a wrench,  
b) having their car dismantled piece-by-piece and set on fire,  
c) being dismantled themselves and set on fire,  
d) spontaneously combusting on the spot from the stubborn and slightly murderous glare they were all currently receiving,  
or  
e) all of the above.

And Jak had thought Metalheads -along with KG Deathbots, Kor himself, Marauders, Sig and his Peacemaker on a bad day, Daxter's not-so subtle innuendo about his relationship with Keira, and Samos after witnessing Jak kissing his daughter- had been intimidating.

Even Sig was keeping his mouth shut; the Peacemaker constantly in his hands was now shielding him.

Daxter of course, apparently thought this awkward silence among them all needed a well placed joke to lighten the mood.

"Man, and I thought you were scary when you got tipsy at the Ottsel and told me all 'bout how you were gonna take out Erol by yourself. That, might I add, would have been funny to watch. Even though I thought you were gonna kill me when I cut you off for the night. But it _was _worth it to hear all about how you were pretty sure that you and Jak were-"

"We're not talking about that right now!" Keira –with pink now on her cheeks- quickly interrupted the obnoxious orange fur ball, the expression on her face giving the impression that had he been within range she would have kicked him all the way back to Sandover and back.

Samos and Jak, of course, hadn't missed what Daxter had said about Keira's brief interlude with the alcohol so graciously offered at the Naughty Ottsel back in Haven.

"You got a bit _what _back in Haven?" The short green little man nearly hissed, giving his daughter a look that read 'You are telling me just what happened back there little missy, before I _really_ get mad.'

"We were what?" Jak asked genuinely curious, wanting to hear the rest of Daxter's unfinished statement, as if he was really helping the situation rather than beginning to dig his own grave next to Samos' and Daxter's. Daxter's was just a bit deeper than the others at the moment.

"_That is not up for discussion right now!_"

Look, Ashelin may have her moments when she was beyond scary, but right now Torn was full-blown terrified of the short girl in front of him that looked just about ready to impale a certain someone –the self-proclaimed 'Orange Lightning' nonetheless- with a dull screwdriver.

Daxter might not have sensed it before, but realized that now would be a good time to keep his mouth shut.

"We are staying here, and that's final!"

Well it was true. Score one for Keira.

Somehow, 'a few extra days' turned out to mean 'three-and-a-half weeks'.

It didn't really bother any of them though, since Keira had to complete strip and redo most of the bodywork on Torn's vehicle ("I did _not _hit the mine on purpose! When you can either drive into some homicidal maniac with _missiles _of all things, the mine looks a bit more inviting!" Needless to say, Torn's defense was sorely lacking on the matter.) and the Bloody Hook wasn't the worst place to hang out.

Even if it was once frequented by Mizo's goonies, Razer, random half-drunk people, and randomly Klevier himself on occasion. (No one knew how to explain that one. No one even _wanted _to_._) Oh, and the window/aquarium spat out short spurts of water if a fish swam too close to one of the large cracks following Jak's earlier stunt before the reading of Krew's will. Ashelin looked about ready to annihilate the thing herself when a short spurt of water sprayed her in the back of the head, thus killing 'the moment' she was having with Torn. Orange Lightning didn't seem to mind. Saved him from some unwanted future mental images he was sure would have been coming back to haunt him.

Daxter was particularly moody over having to hang out in a place that wasn't _his _bar, therefore _his girlfriend _wasn't there, but didn't seem to complain too much about the free drinks he was getting courtesy of having won the Championship.

Even though it had been Jak driving and Daxter holding onto to the rear fender for all that he was worth.

It was at the end of those three-and-a-half weeks when it happened.

Seeing how Ashelin had been prepared leave from the moment Keira first proposed they stay in Kras awhile longer she was packed and ready, sitting in the lobby with Daxter while they waited for Torn, Keira, and the hero himself Jak to go up to their rooms and collect their things.

Daxter was all but passed out on the couch the moment he reclined he didn't even notice the fact that the trio hadn't returned as soon as they were supposed to. Ashelin of course, did, so she sat in her annoyed state while glaring at the elevator doors.

"We could have left earlier this week," Torn muttered as he jammed the button with '8' on it, glancing at Keira out of the corner of his eye as she rolled hers. "But no, you thought we should stay."

"We'll I'm sorry that you all stayed and enjoyed yourselves. I must be such a horrible person I didn't even realize the pain and trauma I was causing you." She shot back, placing her hands on her hips and looking up at the numbers above the door, each progressive numeral flashing according to the floor they were on.

Jak let out a breath and folded his arms, leaning back against the elevator wall furthest from the bickering duo, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. He had to admit though; he _had _really enjoyed himself in the past few weeks, more so than he had in awhile actually. You know, if you ignored the fact that they were only in the city to begin with because they were invited to a will reading where they were poisoned and forced to race against their will to win in order to live.

The food wasn't that bad though. Just ask Daxter, who had eaten twice his weight one night.

And then proceeded to complain about it the next morning. Repeatedly.

Besides –even though Jak would never admit it out loud, or at least to anyone else- he had gotten to spend some time with Keira in the garage, not being interrupted by the orange nuisance long enough to actually get somewhere. Granted most of the time they were working on getting the cars repaired, but during the random intervals when they weren't they had _finally_ been able to sit down and have a decent conversation.

Well, maybe that wasn't _all _they had been doing. But no one else really needed to know that. (It hadn't been anything over the PG-13 rating people, so please. It was only a little bit of _this _and just a hint of _that_. Ok, time to confess. All they had done was flirt awkwardly-and failed, most of the time in doing so- and given one another a quick peck or so. Did they want it to… Oh, well. That was their business.)

"You _are _a horrible person." Jak was snapped out of his brief reverie at Torn's scratchy voice, looking up at the two in boredom, his gaze often falling upon the mechanic. "You made me stay here and have to put up with the rat in an enclosed space. And you blamed me for something that wasn't even my fault-"

"Oh get over it." Keira mumbled, referring to Torn bringing up the mine incident once more. Jak nodded along with her.

"-and took my entire car apart out of spite," Torn continued, and Keira's remark was cut off by the look she received from him, to which she hmph'd at. After a pause and seeing that they were now at the fifth floor, he began again. "You know, there is a special place in hell for people like yo-"

Startled cries were issued by the three as the lift jostled, making unhealthy creaking and groaning noises before it abruptly stopped. The few lights inside of it flickered before they went out.

And so it was silent.

"…Well this is just _fantastic!_" Torn hissed in the dark, taking a step back –onto Jak's foot nonetheless- before he slouched against the back wall.

"Shut up," Keira said, folding her arms and squinted in the darkness.

"Well I hope neither of you are claustrophobic." Torn said after a few moments. Jak decided that now would be a good time to finally say something.

"Oh god," He whimpered, smiling. He couldn't see it, but Torn stiffened. "We're all going to die in here! Oh my god!" Keira was now laughing at his sarcasm, much to Jak's delight and Torn's annoyance.

"You had me going for a second there, I though you wer-" Torn stopped speaking as the back-up lights flickered on, startling the trio. Jak blinked a couple of times, raising a hand over his face as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"Ahh!" Keira suddenly screamed, causing Jak to jump back, startled, and Torn to jump as well, smacking his head against the back wall. "_Ahhhhhhhhhh!! We're gonna die in here!_" She yelled, waving her arms with a terrified look on her face. "_We're going to run out of oxygen and die! And it will be all your fault Torn! Wait- _STOP BREATHING! YOU'LL USE UP ALL THE AIR! I don't wanna diieee!"

Torn was pretty sure he was going to need a new pair of pants soon, seeing as Keira kept screaming about dieing in an elevator shaft, and he was fairly certain that they weren't so-

"AUGH!" Keira yelled, startling the two men once more. Jak wasn't sure what to do. Should he go over and try to comfort her, or stay where he was and pray to the Precursors that she didn't kill him? He eyed Keira from where she stood across from him as he backed up as far as he could, seeing Torn do the same thing with a cross between worried and petrified expression. "Ah! Ah-ha-ha…"

Keira's outcry was interrupted by her own hysterical laughter as she clutched at her sides, feeling tears form in the corners of her eyes. Her face begin to turn a few shades darker, gasping for breath in between fits of giggles at the looks on Jak and Torn's faces. Jak was able to let out the breath he had been holding while Torn looked just about reading to murder her.

The mechanic's face had now taken on a shade of light red as she let out of the last of her chuckles as she looked up at her comrades.

"Why you little-" Torn began, only to find himself once more cut off, this time by a bored-sounding robotic voice.

"_Please excuse the technical difficulties. It appears as though the lift you are currently riding has halted. Please do not worry, as repairs have begun and you will be on your way in a matter of minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please have a nice day._"

Looks of disbelief were quickly exchanged. One of the two back-up lights flickered.

Back in the lobby, Ashelin was becoming fairly impatient, glancing at the elevators to see if the other three were going to magically appear, and also looking over at the front doors, half-expecting Rayn to random walk in and directly into her fist.

Oh, that would have been nice. Revenge would be sweet.

But Ashelin's dilemma pretty much paled in comparison to the one the others were in.

"'_It appears as though the lift has stopped_'? Really?" Torn said sarcastically, shaking his head at the small speaker the voice had only just come from. "Huh, I wonder why none of us noticed it before. Where was _I_?"

"Maybe because you were too busy ranting about something unimportant?" Keira offered quietly, looking up at the tattooed man who gave her a glare in return. Jak rolled his eyes, letting out another breath and folding his arms.

"Look-"

"Hey, would you two knock it off?" Jak finally spoke, causing the other two to finally look at him. "This is getting annoying, and whatever it was you were arguing about _really _isn't that important anymore."

"So he finally speaks." Torn said, turning to face the blond. Jak narrowed his eyes.

Keira sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the side wall in boredom. She slid down the wall until she sat on the floor, yawning with half-lidded eyes at the older two. "Wait, before you two break out into a fight, don't you think we should try to figure out a way out of here?"

Torn and Jak exchanged a look before silently agreeing to not have their own spat going and nodded at the green-haired girl. Torn sat against the wall, stretching his legs before him as best he could while Jak sat facing Keira, one arm resting on his bent knee.

"Wanna see if there's a panel in the ceiling you can slide out of and check out what's going on up top?" Torn questioned the female, pointing at the ceiling of the elevator. There was no panel, and probably never would be unless Torn took out his non-existent blaster and made one, which he would then presumably force Keira through, despite presumably being attacked by a would-be annoyed Jak. But that's just the way it was.

"There isn't one." Jak stated the now obvious, each of the younger people looking up at the blue, half-dying lights.

Torn didn't say anything for awhile, considering that his plan of taking out one of the lights and then pushing Keira through the small opening into the elevator shaft probably wouldn't go over too well. Keira rolled her eyes at them as they stared at the ceiling. Deciding that neither one would come up the idea she already had –they'd probably say something in half-an-hour or so, give or take-, she opened her mouth.

"Do either of you have your communicators with you?" She asked with an almost expectant expression. Torn blinked, mentally smacking himself with an 'I should have thought of that.' Jak simply nodded, reaching into his pocket with roughly the same thought as Torn did the same.

"I do…" Jak began, holding it in front of him. "But the reception sucks. We'd be dead before it even tried to make a call." Keira's face fell, but then they both gave Torn a hopeful look.

"Yeah, well, the reception on mine is…" He squinted at and smirked. "Great, now I just need to call Ashelin and- Oh. Crap."

"Wait! What's 'Oh crap'? Oh crap isn't good! We don't want that right now!" Keira sputtered, shaking her hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep a breath, seeing as how _now _wouldn't be the best time to have a mental breakdown. Honestly. Jak was _right there_, and Torn's presence was kinda ruining the moment that the two could have been having…Especially because they more often than not came far and few in between.

Oh Precursors.

The heat of the stuffy room was getting to her head.

"The battery died." Torn said solemnly after a few moments, apparently having witnessed the mini-mental mind implosion Keira had just had for no apparent reason. Jak was watching his sorta-but-not-really-I-don't-even-know-anymore-girlfriend with concern.

Once more, Keira sighed.

"Let me see them." She held out her hand as both men handed over the small communicators that had saved their butts a few times already. (And the plan they had on them was _really _saving them a bundle. Now they could buy more beer!) She flipped both of them over, examining what kind they were and what batteries they took. Turned out they were the same thing, but there was no rational explanation as to why Torn's had better reception than Jak's. "No either of you have nails or a sharp object?"

Her head snapped up to see two dumbfounded expressions. "Nails?"

"Yeah, you, know. _Finger_nails?"

"No, sorry. Mine have been cut down to demonstrate their rugged manliness."

"What is _wrong _with you?" Jak muttered to the Commander of the still-existing-but-not-very-active-because-it-kinda-doesn't-need-to-be Freedom League. Keira's head shook, sending blue-green hair flying gently around her face.

She studied the communicators once more. Well, the backs were both held on by a set of screws, so if she was able to turn them and take them off, the batteries could easily be swapped and the call could be made to get them out of there…

"I don't even know…" Torn replied, gazing to his left as the mechanic suddenly bent down, seemingly adjusting her shoe. To the surprise of both men she began lifting up her pant leg slowly. "What is she _doing?_" Torn whispered to Jak, who shook his head, his gaze never leaving Keira's leg, unsure of what she was doing and what _he _was supposed to do. "If she's coming on to you then I _really _don't want to be here right now." Torn muttered. "Uh, I don't think the answer that you're looking for is –whoa."

Out of a pocket hidden on the inside of her pant leg, Keira withdrew a palm-size pocketknife, deftly flicking it open and going to work on the screws that were currently blocking their rescue. It took her a moment to realize that she was being stared at.

"What?" She quipped, removing the back from Torn's communicator, taking out the battery and setting it down before turning to Jak's, maintaining eye contact with both men. Torn was the first to reply.

"Okay, if she goes to kill one of us, I'm sacrificing you." Jak's gave him a quick glare, turning his attention back to Keira.

"So…um, why, uh, ahem. Why, er, since when have you had that…in…there?" He stuttered, not sure if she _would _in fact be using it against them. (Torn was understandable, but Jak? She wouldn't hurt him…Right?)

"It was Sig's idea." Keira replied, popping out the charged battery and setting it into Torn's communicator. "He said I should at least have _something_ to protect myself with, seeing how you guys either have guns or fists of fury, and I don't want to be either vulnerable or unable to defend myself. Especially after that incident wit-" Her eyes widened as she caught herself, quickly putting all of her focus into replacing a single screw, and then the other, locking the battery into place.

"What incident?" Jak questioned with a rather demanding tone. His protectiveness was rapidly surfacing, wanting to know who had confronted Keira, offended her, or made any move she was uncomfortable with. Hell, he would find this guy and beat some sense into him if Keira so much as asked him.

Not that she had to ask him, of course.

"It was nothing, Jak." Keira quickly responded, handing the small electronic back to Torn, who had remained strangely quiet the whole time.

"Did anyone try to-"

"Ah, Jak, no. I told you. It was nothing. You don't need to worry about it. Sig was there and-"

"And what if Sig hadn't been there?"

"Then I would have been able to defend myself!" Keira shouted; a hint of anger and irritation in her voice. Yes, Jak was protective of her. Yes, she found that she did enjoy it most of the time, but he really didn't need to worry about something that was currently irrelevant, did he? "Honestly Jak, I can take care of myself sometimes. I spent two years alone in Haven, didn't I?"

Neither one of the guys spoke up. Jak was still perturbed about this guy who Sig had had to save Keira from, and Torn was simply sitting back about to call Ashelin, but waiting for the little argument to die down before he did so.

"See Jak? This is why I don't tell you some things immediately. You just assume the worst and don't really give me a chance to explain it." Her tone softened, as did her eyes. "I promise you, if anyone _does _try something and I can't handle it, you'll be the first to know."

"I don't…" Jak shook his head, running his hand of his face, brushing his goggles out of the way. "I didn't, I mean…I'm sorry?" Ah geez, what was he supposed to say? He hated this kind of stuff. Yelling at people was something he had been used to after first getting out of prison -and he wasn't yelling as much as he had two years ago-, but yelling at Keira…

In a sad way, Torn found himself amused by the two mini-mental mind implosions he'd witnessed. But he'd been quiet for long enough, and it was finally his turn to say something. (And he was going to! NO ONE would be interrupting him this time! He was going to say a full sentence, and neither Keira, a suddenly stopped lift, nor a lying robot –twenty minutes had passed, and hello! they were still stuck in an elevator!- were going to cut him off this time! Alright. Mental preparation was taking too long. By the time he said something, the couple in front of him would either be in another disagreement or making out. He didn't want to see either.)

"Alright children! It's Torn's turn to talk, and you will not be interrupting me, lest you wish to feel the wrath of an ex-KG whose put up with enough crap from biased little twerps and defiant ex-cons." That settled it. When they got out of there, Jak was breaking Torn's nose -he just had to decide how to do it. Fist? Foot? Head butt? Dark bomb? Choices…-, and that would be the least of the Tattooed Wonder's worries, judging from the heated glare he was getting from Keira.

"And what wisdom could you possibly have to share with us?" His clipped tone was enough to knock Torn down a peg or two. He realized that if he ever wanted to get out alive, he should stop insulting them. They were going to double team him if he went any further. He knew it.

"Oh nothing," He said.

Keira glanced over at Jak, both wishing that they were in the garage instead. Well, they could team up and knock out Torn, getting somewhere other than walking around the eggshell battlefield of 'That incident before Sig showed up'. At least there no one really came to bother them –except for Daxter at random moments-, and they could resolve this matter between themselves. Sealed with a kiss. That was more like it.

But no. Torn wasn't going to be thwarted that easily.

"I just think it's about time we had a talk…"

It wasn't _that _talk, was it? Samos and the Bird Lady had given that little spiel to Jak, Daxter, and Keira back in Sandover. Now that had given Jak a real reason not to talk. They had barely looked at one another without turning red. _Daxter _on the other hand… Well, somethings were just best left unsaid.

"…about your so-called '_relationship_'."

Oh, so Torn was the matchmaker now. This was going to be interesting.

Jak suddenly wished that the lift would plummet and take him down with it.

* * *

**A/N:** And that is the end of the first chapter. Which may eventually lead to a second. And quite possibly a third. But we'll see, won't we?

Ah yes, Torn has decided to make himself the matchmaker between Jak and Keira, as they rest are worried about their relationship, thinking that's it's slowly withering when in fact... Well, that's for later on in the story.  
I promise to add some fluff/romance between Jak and Keira despite Torn's presence. He's not getting away with keeping their love at bay! Ho boy.

And so now, I bid you adieu, and a word to the readers- reviews are appreciated, as long as you're not getting all huffy about JakxKeira.  
No one said you had to read it, right?

I'm so gonna edit this when I get the chance. There are a few things I think could change...Erk...  
Edit as of 8/16: Ha! I edited this and fixed typos! I feel proud. Sadly.

-Orange0Lightning


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Ah ha! It took me long enough to get this chapter done. I mean really. I'll admit though, it took me a while to actually figure out what to write after I got about half way through this...  
Still JakXKeira. Still got Torn playing the matchmaker role. Still stuck in an elevator.

Oh, and Keira admits her feelings for Jak in a roundabout way!

**Warning!! **Contains minor Jak 3 spoilers! (Even if it is set post-Jak X!) It's only one line, and the ending of the third game is mentioned twice. If you don't want to read about that, I suggest you either turn back now or skip over those parts. Or just read it and not fully understand it?  
OR, you can assume I lied about the end, and then be mad at me. Of course, I wouldn't lie about _that_. No, no, no, no, no.

But have any of you seen the intro to the new Jak and Daxter game? Woo! I mean, really, look at it!(pointpointjab) It's so awesomely amazing...

So, without further adieu, I give you Chapter Two! (Without the intended rhyme!)

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Jak said quizzically, giving Torn a dumbfounded look. "Who put you up to this?"

Torn shrugged nonchalantly at this, as if Jak's question was to be expected. "No one. Just kind of curious about you two. We all are. Kinda worried actually."

Despite appearances, Jak and Keira's relationship was doing just fine, thank-you-very-much, and there was no reason that they needed Torn's unwanted input. Honestly, just because they weren't all that flamboyant about it and all over each other in public didn't mean that they lacked feelings for one another. (They had kissed once in front of the others after their first in Bloody Hook, and Daxter still had yet to shut up about it, even if he only really said anything about it while Samos wasn't around them. Had Samos been there, well, Jak didn't want to think about that. If he could help it.)

Keira had fallen completely silent at Torn's offer. She was blushing like there was no tomorrow –which, you know, there might not be seeing as they had been sitting in an _elevator _for a solid half-hour or so. She had already been forced to sit through Tess analyzing every single aspect of her private relationship, pointing out everything that could go wrong and what she and Jak had to do before it was too late. Ashelin had been there, but that offered little moral support to Keira, seeing how she even agreed with Tess on a few points.

And no. There was no way Keira was going to call him 'Jakkie-kins', 'butter biscuit', or some other pet name that would be beyond a bit demeaning to Jak's character. She wasn't going to go as low as taking a jab at his ego, inflated as it could be at times.

Granted, there were times that neither were sure if they were actually going anywhere –let alone if they were even going to-, but they had always chosen to ignore that and live in the present. But that got her wondering, would there ever be anything other than a few kisses stolen in secret in an unfamiliar garage, or an occasional glance when no one was watching? What did that say about them?

In reality, that actually hurt Keira. She'd thought that after finally getting their hands on the antidote and no longer having any other prominent threats to their lives, the world, or the universe, Jak would have opened up to her more. But no, instead there were keeping away from their friends and fumbling awkwardly between the borderline of 'just friends' and 'more than friends.' Was it so wrong that she wanted the later?

He'd never say it, but Jak's thoughts were roughly the same thing. To be truthful, he was simply too afraid of hurting Keira and losing her. What if they were alone and one time, just for a moment, he lost control? He could never forgive himself for that. If she had been hurt at his hand or by his words, he couldn't live with that. Yes, he _did _want, er, _something _more with Keira, but he was never sure how to go about it. Was he supposed to just act on instinct and grab her, and never let her go? Was he supposed to ask her if she wanted to take their relationship somewhere else?

He had a hard time imagining that. '_Hey Keira, rather than hiding from our friends like a couple of morons, wanna go make out in front of them? Better yet, let's do that when your dad is right there! I really don't need the use one of my kidneys, and I can make a good punching bag for him!_'

He liked his kidneys, and wanted to keep them for as long as he could. Inciting Samos' wrath wasn't on his to-do list, either.

Jak and Keira's train of thought was quickly derailed and crashed in a fiery inferno when the third wheel opened his mouth to speak again.

"I mean, have you two actually _done it _yet?"

Holy Precursors and all their furry glory, this man didn't know where to draw the line did he?

They would have expected this from Daxter –understandable, as that was just the way he was. He _had _even asked Jak that. But Jak had just turned red and walked away. (He went down to the garage to visit Keira. Needless to say, Sig's car wasn't worked on much that night. Jak was too busy ranting about Daxter and Keira kept agreeing with him. (Not what you were thinking, huh?))- but Torn?! Come on!

Keira was attempting to figure out if her face fit behind both of her hands, and Jak's mind had taken a coffee break, unable to come up with a retort.

"Duh…I, er…duh heem…" He stuttered unable to form articulate words, his own cheeks taking on a shade of pink.

"Well have you?" The Tattooed Wonder asked nonchalantly, as if they were discussing the weather or a new gun upgrade. Either one Jak would have preferred. Luckily for Jak Keira piped up, meaning that Jak wouldn't have to answer and could hold off on strangling Torn.

"Well, I!" She seemed to be at a loss for words, so apparently Jak had figuratively spoken too soon. "You don't need to…" She took a breath, obviously looking for a sufficient remark. "Even if we had, why would you need to know? What's it to you?"

Jak nodded. That was a good question.

"…I take it that's a 'no'?" Torn said hesitantly, almost with a mocking tone. He wasn't trying to be mean, really. It was supposed to have been a simple question, but it didn't quite come out right. Well, of course it didn't. The question he had asked was beyond personal and way past the list of 'Questions to never ever ever even think about asking ever.'

Especially to Jak, who just so happened to have a small store of Dark Eco. All he had to do was morph quickly and scare the crap out of Torn. That would get him to stop asking about, er, unnecessary, um, _that. _Or just scar him for life. Jak was feeling fairly opened minded about that.

"No. We haven't." Jak finally supplied Torn with the answer he had been looking for. "There, happy? You _really _don't need to know about that."

"…Well, no. I-" Torn began, but as usual, someone else found it necessary to cut him off.

"_Then why did you ask?_" The way Keira had asked it was enough to make Torn rethink his plan. He was a tactician after all, but as of now all he seemed to be planning was his demise in a cramped elevator. Talk about a lousy way to go.

Jak seemed to be waiting for an answer as well.

"Look," Torn was now using a rather commanding voice that was enough to shut up the other two. He hadn't been a Commander in the Krimzon Guard for no reason, you know. Mentally he smirked, free of interruptions due to his tone. "Let's just say that we're all kind of worried about you two. Well, no, let me re-phrase that. Tess and Daxter are. I'm not so sure about that big guy with the gun, but Ashelin and I, well, we _do _care." He paused. He held his index finger and thumb an inch apart. "About that much."

Neither of the teenagers said anything.

"Tess is worried that-" He pointed at Keira. "-Your _biological clock _is ticking." Keira's face was red again. Torn's held a look of contempt. Jak had gone pale. "And you're too cowardly to make a move." Jak's ego was all but punched in the gut at that. "Tess also thinks that you-" He pointed at Keira again, whose face had gone from maroon to dark pink. "-May or may not move on if in fact Jak does nothing. Which, you know, wouldn't surprise anybody, because we're all pretty sure that you're not going to wait another three years to get somewhere with Blondie."

He jabbed his thumb in Jak's general direction, taking on one of Jinx's many nicknames for the hero. This one way one of the few that were appropriate and could be said in front of kids. When Jinx had had a few too many, well, let's just say while they were true, there was a chance that Jak wasn't that much of a prude. (Turned out that Jinx would ask the same question as Torn and Daxter, only to Keira while he was drunk. And then he hit on her. The response was Jak hitting him, but that's irrelevant and a story for another time.)

The Tattooed Wonder turned his attention back to 'Blondie'. He swept his hand through the air between him and the door, gesturing toward Keira. "So, Jak, are you going to make her wait a few more years, or are you going to make a move?"

Jak blinked. He didn't even pretend to not notice that Keira was looking up at him.

"Well, I- I mean," He didn't know what to say. Did Torn expect to talk about his _feelings_? Was he supposed to offer his heart to Keira on a silver platter and that was it?

Yes, he did care about Keira. No, he didn't want to lose her. Kiss her? Uh, duh. Hold her? Of course! He wasn't that stupid! He could go as far as saying he loved her, but he wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't that he didn't care about her that much, it was just that… He didn't know what love was like. For all he knew it was some crazy teenage hormones driving him insane. Maybe it was lust.

No. It was more than that. Jak just didn't know how to say it.

He wondered how Keira felt.

Truthfully, she'd been all but head-over-heels for the boy since he'd been a mute. Some could call it lust, others could call it wishful thinking, but she knew better. There was a chance she could _love _him, but Keira couldn't bring herself to admit it. She wasn't sure if that was the right word…

"At the rate you're going, I'm going to grow a third head and she'll have a beard before you even say anything by the looks of it." Torn said a few minutes later, as all Jak had really done was stare at Keira and go _I really, really, don't know what to say. I do care about you, I swear, I just don't know what to say._

Torn had turned his attention back to the mechanic.

"I'm sure you're not going to be too forward yourself, are you?" He added, as if hinting that he was expecting her to jump Jak's bones. Maybe she and Jak would have gotten somewhere if _Torn _wasn't there! Didn't he see that?

"I don't…" She started, figuring that the only way to get Torn to leave the both of them alone was to play along with him. She sighed and closed her eyes. "…I don't know. I've never been good with that kind of stuff."

Tools and mechanical stuff she could handle. Ask her to make a move on Jak? Well yeah, she'd tried, but that'd mostly failed. And were they_ trying_ to kill her? Her heart and brain would explode! Keira and him in private however, would have been a different story.

Torn shook his head.

"Honestly? Your relationship is like a slowly dying yakkow. You just want to take it away from the pasture and put it out of its misery."

"I'd like to put you out of _your _misery." Jak muttered, leaning back against his wall of the elevator and folding his arms. Seriously, why was Torn doing this? And why _now_? A year or two ago it would have been understandable. Now all he wanted to do was slug Torn. Keira was agreeing to his statement at the moment, if the heated glare she was giving was any hint.

"Hey, do what you want. At least I _have _a girlfriend and have actually _gotten_ somewhere with her. It's sad that I can't say the same with you two." Torn held up his hands in front of him, shrugging. So Torn wanted them to do something, did he now?

Unseen by the two men Keira smirked. Maybe it wasn't the most brilliant idea she'd ever had, but she didn't mind it. So she gotten up on her knees, reached over and grabbed Jak's collar. He was more than surprised; his eyebrows shooting up the met his goggles for a short reunion as his eyes decided to nearly take up half of his face. The only time Keira had ever been this forward was at the Bloody Hook, but that was because they were both annoyed with Daxter.

"Fine then," Keira smirked again, bringing Jak's face closer to hers. The victory dance in Jak's mind was quickly squashed when Torn placed a hand on each of their shoulders and pried them apart. The victory dance turned into a desire to once more punch Torn. "Hey-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it." Torn said quickly, not wanting to see the couple make-out barely a foot away from him. Keira slumped against the wall, a pout-type look on her face.

"But you said-" Jak began.

"I know what I said!" Torn spat, shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him as if fending off some unwanted image or presence. "But that doesn't mean I want to actually _see _you two go at it. Please, spare me that much."

"Hypocrite." Keira muttered from her side of the elevator. Jak looked up at the ceiling, as if expecting some answer to suddenly fall and give him an epiphany on how to proceed. Or just watching for some panel to fall and knock Torn unconscious.

Not only would it be karma, but it'd be pretty damn hilarious if that happened.

"_Please excuse the technical difficulties. It appears as though the lift you are currently riding has halted. Please do not worry, as repairs have begun and you will be on your way in a matter of minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please have a nice day._"

"Déjà vu," Jak mumbled, slumping against his wall and closing his eyes, either out of annoyance or boredom.

"You vile woman!" Torn half-whispered at the robotic voice that had promised them refuge an hour ago.

Torn, at the moment, had no desire to be killed by Jak or Keira. He also had no desire to be sitting there on the floor anymore. His butt was numb, and believe me, that was beyond uncomfortable.

Keira and Jak chose to ignore this small outburst. The tattooed dude rolled his eyes, his gaze once more returning to Keira in strange hopes of continuing their earlier conversation.

"So…" He pointed at the blue-green haired girl before he paused. Oh crap, he hadn't forgotten her name, had he? What was it again, Karen? Karol? Kiki? Kara? Joan? Ok, where did _Joan _come from? "…You." He continued, praying that they'd taken his momentary lapse of chatter as thinking of how to word what he wanted to say.

They weren't stupid though, but if they'd noticed, they didn't say anything.

"What…You?" She replied, looking at him while stifling a yawn with her hand. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night due to Daxter's muttering from where he slept in the nightstand drawer between her bed and Jak's, and the late night conversation she'd been having with him hadn't exactly caused her to doze off either.

Jak had his eyes closed, not wanting to be part of this. What he really wanted to do was go all 'Dark Jak' and claw his way out. Small enclosed spaces had never really been his cup of tea. At least he could take Keira with him and leave Torn alone. Ha.

Torn assumed that Jak had fallen asleep, despite the fact that he had not. In fact, he was wide awake, but starting to let his mind wander beyond the confines of the cramped lift. Deciding to take advantage of Jak being out of it –which he wasn't- the older man figured he might as well attempt to get somewhere with (…Oh yeah, her name was) Keira. Even if she had a pocketknife that she could stab him with. At least she'd put it away.

"Do you actually have feelings for him?" Torn asked casually, once more as if they were discussing the weather. (Kinda balmy outside really, looked like it was going to rain. The sky was a bit gray, looked overcast.) He was expecting an answer, and she knew that. Jak shifted slightly in his 'sleep', one of his long ears twitching, as if hoping to hear her answer as well.

_Oh please don't make me do this. Not here, not _now.

Why was it that luck and fate hated her most of the time? What had she ever done? Was this for rejecting Daxter's many obnoxious flirts back in Sandover? For the way she had reacted when she was first reunited with Jak? Sure, she had apologized profusely and he had smiled and accepted it, but still.

Of course, Tattooed Wonder was persistent, and it was obvious she had to answer if she ever wanted him to leave her alone. And maybe it could help her relationship with Jak if she'd admitted how she felt. She'd just thought it'd be in private, not some stopped elevator.

Ah well. _All's fair in love and war._

She just hoped she wasn't losing this one.

No matter where she looked or what she did, Torn was still staring at her, his eyebrows raised casually as he held out a hand to her, as if expecting her to start spewing out words and then set them all in his palm in a delicate manner. Ah sweet Precursors, what was she supposed to do now?

Then again, it might be less painful in the long run if she admitted her feelings now, even if she could very well be sealing her fate for some unknown reason. Maybe her chest wouldn't hurt so much and her heart would stop pounding so loudly.

J-Jak, he- he wasn't listening right now, was he? Did she…Did she want him to hear what she had to say?

Well, duh. Of course she did.

Jak looked like he was asleep still, even if she thought she knew better. Torn was still waiting.

"Well?"

Might as well get this over with.

"Yes, yes I do. Okay?" She really wished that right now she could stop talking and Torn could go back to ranting about the robotic voice that was condemning them, Jak could doze off, and she could simply sitting there daydreaming about her relationship with the later. But no, of course not.

"I care about him a lot actually. Maybe more so than I should, or more than humanly possible. Maybe even more than, than what's considered natural. I just do, okay? I've cared about him for years, and it took nearly four for me to finally kiss him, so what does that say Torn? Hmm? Do you really think that I'm willing to repeat trying to actually get somewhere with him –and that includes trying to ignore Daxter's '_interruptions_' and his comments? Oh, and that fact that I've barely seen him over the past two years? Not to mention the fact that the way I reacted to him when I first saw him in Haven after two years was with a stupid _'You look different'_?"

Torn was silent. He'd assumed he'd get some mushy 'Oh yes! I _luuurve _him!'from Keira. Not some heartfelt speech that looked like it was tearing her apart inside.

"Honestly, Torn? You asked me if I had feelings for him. And I do. And sometimes it hurts because I have no idea what to do about it. Am I scared? Hell, I'm terrified! I'm always over thinking everything, like '_Well if I do this, will it scare him off?_', or '_If I say this, will that sound stupid?_' And don't forget how I've practically hit on him in the garage during the races. Might as well of thrown myself at him, for what it's worth." Her tone had died down, she was losing her steam. Tears had formed in the corner of her eyes.

Her chest hurt worse than it had before, and she just wanted to cry. But she was too stubborn too.

Keira pulled her knees to her chest and folded her arms over them. She couldn't bring herself to look at Jak yet, who'd opened his eyes, his gaze burning a hole into her forehead. The stain on the carpeting had much more appeal to her at the moment.

_It just doesn't matter anymore, does it? I'll never get anywhere with him. I'd give up now, but that would hurt too much, wouldn't it?_

"Is that answer sufficient enough Torn?" She whispered, mentally flinching at how her voice cracked. "Are you happy now?"

She closed her eyes, hiding her face behind the small shield of her arms and protective leather gauntlets. The tattooed Commander couldn't bring himself to say anything. In all honesty, he and Jak had both expected her to also bring up how cold and bitter Jak had been during the war on Praxis –and his banishment the following year-, not to mention the kiss that had also occurred between the blonde and Ashelin.

The later was a sensitive subject, which would never willingly be spoken of. Unless a drunk Daxter said something. Beyond the point.

Unsure of how to go about his response, Jak stood up gingerly and inched his way over to his aqua-haired girlfriend who had just admitted how much it hurt that he cared about him so much, and had now wedged herself against the wall and the corner. Torn had taken Jak's spot opposite her as the racer and two-time world hero/savior sat down beside her.

Gently, a clothed arm was draped across her thin shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She didn't pull away or reject his movement, but she wasn't overly compliant either.

"Hey…Keira?" He started, his arm barely jostling her. His thumb was absentmindedly rubbing her arm. What he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to say? Jak hated this feeling of helplessness and the lack of hope he felt coming off of Keira. Was there some way he could make it up to her? Er, um… How could he show her how much he truly cared about her?

Women. Why were they so hard to understand? Seriously.

But still, he did want her to know he had feelings for her, but he was still uncertain of how to go about it. He would/could say 'I love you,' into her ear, but… Well, it wasn't that he didn't, but was that too much to say?

So Jak settled for an "I'm sorry" in a very timid and quiet manner. The inner turmoil wasn't exactly his fault –well yeah, in a way it sort of was-, but he was trying to offer her _something_, at least.

She obviously accepted his unneeded apology, what with her leaning into him and pulling her face away from her arms slightly. Jak kissed the top her head in a very un-like-typical-Jak fashion. This seemed to both sooth her frazzled nerves and took some weight off of her boyfriend's shoulders. He'd begun to break his way through the brittle shell she'd started forming around herself.

Quietly Torn turned his communicator back on, having watched the couple skeptically with the sudden feeling that he'd been way out of line with prying into their relationship. He'd having to tell the others about this, and how they'd assumed to worst too quickly. Slowly he had the communicator call Ashelin, chancing glances at the mute duo every so often as they listened through the dial tone.

Daxter snickered in his sleep. Ashelin looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, but obviously couldn't be bothered in her pacing. She'd been waiting for the other three for nearly an hour and twenty minutes! What was taking them so long? All that they had to do was grab their few bags and come back done to the lobby. Simple as that!

No my, dear, you have _no _idea. At all.

The receptionist wanted to say something to her, to tell her that it was no use waiting for an elevator –seeing as it had stopped and had been so for a while- but was too afraid of what she would do to him.

There was a short pause in her footsteps before she continued. Then again, in the first week Keira had convinced them to stay, she and Torn had caught the two of them taking a brief break from making repairs. They had been otherwise occupied, and therefore hadn't noticed the two quickly hightailing it out of there.

Ashelin smirked before turning on her heel and stomping passed the elevators again. She was actually proud of Keira for finally making a move on Jak. She still felt guilty about having kissed Jak out in the desert, but Keira had merely shrugged at her when she'd been told by the red-head acting as it it didn't bother her. Ashelin could see the hurt in her eyes though.

Daxter snickered again.

"The hell is your problem?" She muttered at him, folding her arms. She looked over at the doors to the street outside, still waiting for Rayn to show up right then. She shook her head and folded her arms tensely, set on planning out her revenge on Rayn and what was left of Mizo's thugs.

He knew this couch was pretty comfortable, but had there also been some massaging mechanism installed in it? His back was vibrating. That was funny. Daxter stretched lazily and opened his eyes a bit, looking at the ornately decorated ceiling above him.

And then promptly fell back to sleep.

His back vibrated again.

Daxter may not have understood it, but it made his back muscles feel pretty darn good. Hanging onto the edge of Jak's rear fender as he sped at top speeds around hairpin corners and over gaps in the road can make your muscles pretty sore, you know. (Or well, not. But still.)

Why was his bac- No wait. It'd stopped. Huh. Oh well, now he could nap peacefully.

_"Hey, you've reached Ashelin. I'm obviously not –Torn! Stop that, come on!" (there was sniggering in the background, then a noise that sounded as if Torn had fallen over something) "Anyway, I can't answer at the moment, so leave a message and I'll get back to you. Bye."_

Torn stared incredulously at the small blue screen in front of him, and then over at the other two as it beeped. Keira had fully removed her head from their little shield of arms to gape at him, wide eyed. Jak's arm had yet to leave his shoulders, but his expression mimicked that of the mechanic's.

The Tattooed Wonder was the first the break the shocked silence, and while what he said was the truth, none of them wanted to really admit it.

"It's official. We're going to die in here."

"_Please excuse the technical difficulties. It appears as though the lift you are currently riding has halted. Please do not worry, as repairs have begun and you will be on your way in a matter of minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please have a nice day._"

* * *

**A/N: **Ah, that loveable robot voice lady that these three have come to hate...  
And Keira admitted her feelings! Sort of...

As for Keira's heartfelt speech, if you can tell, I was kind of winging it. Ha. I also wasn't sure how to continue it after that, which is probably kind of obvious. Um, sorry? I was having issues with it. Rah.  
But... you had fun reading it, right? What with all the drama, angsty, and hormone-y teenage feelings that people seem to forget. Because hey, Jak and Keira _are _still teenagers. Including Daxter. I think people tend to forget that.

And if you didn't get it at the end, Daxter had fallen asleep on Ashelin's communicator, which was on 'vibrate'. How fun.

I could also go on to rant about anti-anti-Keira thoughts and stuff, but I don't feel like that right now. As you can probably tell, I'm rambling again, so I'll stop that.

But yeah, the whole 'Jinx asking _that _question to Keira' will happen. Maybe in an extra chapter of this story, or in a one-shot of its own. Maybe I should start working on that first...

I will update when I can... If can think of how to continue this...Hmmm...

Ideers for other questions Torn may ask? How Jak and Keira should handle Keira's confession? What Ashelin and Daxter should do when they find out that their friends are trapped in an elevator, and Daxter was sleeping on Ashelin's communicator, so they had no idea Torn called? (And left 27 consecutive messages?)  
Include 'em in a review, and they may be used!

-Orange0Lightning :D


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, LEIA?  
Because I refuse to wait a year to update this. And I also refuse to let it go unfinished, despite the fact that that is entirely my fault.  
But I wanted to get this done, I really did! So a really big thanks to _LeiaOrganicSolo_ for kicking my butt into gear and getting me to work on this. I owe ya one!  
ALSO Yougocheckoutherstoriesthey'resoawesomeI'mnotevenjoking.

Could anybody read that? Good? Good.

Originally there was only going to be three chapters to this story -meaning that this was the last one, period-, but again, thanks to my awesome Flying Giant Dark Jak buddy, there's going to be a fourth because JAK GIVES A SPIEL. Much like Keira did in the second chapter. But longer. More dramatic. Still in the works.

Yeah.

Well that, and I think two bonus chapters, one for what Jinx said to Keira -see Chapter 2- and one for the 27 messages Torn left on Ashelin's little communicator thingy. (See ending note on Chapter 2.)

Sorry that's this note's so long. But while reading this chapter, also keep in mind the two earlier quotes:

_Jak looked up at the ceiling, as if expecting some answer to suddenly fall and give him an epiphany on how to proceed. Or just watching for some panel to fall and knock Torn unconscious._

_Not only would it be karma, but it'd be pretty damn hilarious if that happened._

Andddd

_Jak suddenly wished that the lift would plummet and take him down with it._

You'll see what I mean. ;)

* * *

So, Ashelin wasn't answering her phone.

Their elevator was stuck.

Jak and Keira had no idea what they were supposed to say to each other now that she'd admitted her feelings –in a sense.

Torn had tried and failed at being their matchmaker. (In all actuality, he could say that it was Tess and Daxter's fault. And Ashelin's too really, they all –Torn included- thought that Jak and Keira's relationship had hit a rut –although that theory was quickly disproved a week later when Torn and Ashelin walked into the garage. (It hadn't been anything nasty or mentally scarring, but they knew enough that they had interruption a little _something_ between the two. It had been …Just cute. Simple. Sweet. Almighty Precursors, what was Torn thinking now? The stuffiness of the lift had gone to his head)- after what they'd all assumed was their first and only kiss in the Bloody Hook, and had unanimously decided that an intervention was needed.)

Oh, and had he mentioned that he _really _had to pee? Because he did. He _really, really, really, really_ had to. _Badly._

They were _so _gonna die there.

Unless, of course, by some random –and perhaps angrily forced, maybe, who knows- miracle, they were rescued. But it had already been two hours, so things weren't looking too good.

Oh, why did his bladder, Daxter, and the Precursors hate him so? It was bad enough that the girls had roped him into this, but now he had to die here? In an elevator? Of a combusted bladder? Or by being killed by Jak and/or the girl next to him for having asked, _that question_?

_Why?_

"Do you think he's okay?" Keira whispered to Jak after a few minutes of watching Torn suffer an inner meltdown. Jak wanted to reply with a simple 'I don't really care', but settled for a much more subtle and lenient,

"Who knows?"

They were half-expecting Torn to break out into hives and start twitching. Instead he merely sat there glaring a hole into the board on the wall situated next to the door with the numbered buttons on it. What he observed made him want to smack himself in the head repeatedly, feeling like a complete idiot.

"Wow, are we stupid or what?" He said with a jokingly haughty manner, earning himself a 'look' from the other two. "No, really, look." He pointed at the board, gesturing to one particularly shiny red button.

_Press in Case of Emergency._

Which pretty much meant, 'Push this big shiny red button if your elevator stops you stupid morons. Duuuuh.'

"And we didn't press that _why?_" Jak muttered, glaring at the console and still silently wishing that the lift would magically start working so that he could get out of there, not a huge fan of enclosed spaces. Two years in a prison cell could do that to a person.

That, and he just didn't want to be there when both Torn and his bladder finally exploded.

"Because normally you _don't press the big red button._ And Torn was too busy prying to notice." Keira responded through fairly closed teeth, leaving out the silent 'Let's blame him' that Jak had already mentally agreed to. The blond couldn't help but inwardly flinch at the last bit of her spoken statement.

For roughly the past half hour or so, Keira's words had left a nagging feeling he'd been trying to push to the back of his mind, instead forcing himself to focus on getting the three of them out of there. Now however, they had yet another method of escape to try out, which gave him time to let his mind wander. Mostly back to the speech given by the girl he currently had his arm wrapped around.

What was _he _supposed to say? Should he take her oration and flip it around, making it his in a way? Lie, and tell her sure, he cared about her, maybe. No, he couldn't outright _lie _to Keira, but Jak still didn't know what to say. He'd never been good with words to begin with. He had, after all, been mute for the first fifteen years of his life. The first words his best friend had ever heard had been a death threat.

But he couldn't threat to kill Keira as a means of saying he loved her. …Unless that was what she wanted him to say? A quick glance out of the corner of his eye quickly told him that if he did say that, there was a chance that he'd be kneeling on the floor sobbing in pain and lamenting woes only men could truly feel. And he really didn't want to kill Keira to begin with, so why was he even thinking that?

In a way it was almost pathetic really, how Jak almost knew what he wanted, but had no means of wording it correctly. All he thought he had to do was say most of the same things that Keira had, but make them pertain to their relationship from his perspective. Let her know what she actually meant to him after all that time in prison, when he had forgotten who he was, how he'd actually been truly afraid for the first time in his life.

He had to confess how afraid of _himself _he'd been. Afraid of what he was, what he could do, yet mostly terrified of what he'd become, how he would think that _Jak _no longer existed.

As Torn stood and pressed his finger to the aforementioned button, Jak took a deep breath in preparation, turning slightly to face Keira, already feeling nervous sweat beginning to form on the back of his neck in addition to the warm blush that was creeping up it. In response her brow furrowed as she pulled her gaze away from the actions of the tattooed commander, giving Jak an almost worried look.

"Keira, I-"

"-So then where the _hell _are they Daxter?"

"I already told you! I fell asleep on it, so- Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! Not the tail!_ Not the tail!"_

"What do you mean '_I fell asleep on it_'?" Ashelin hissed, her emerald eyes narrowing as they zeroed in on those of the ottsel currently being suspended upside down, thanks to her iron-fisted grip on the furry animal's tail.

"I mean _I fell asleep_! I didn't know it was there! Honest!" Daxter shouted back, anxiously waving his gloved hands in front of his face, blood beginning to rush to his head. He winced both at the heated glare he was receiving and the tightening grip on his extra appendage. "Ow! Ease up on the tail, wouldya?"

With a twitch of her eyelid muscles narrowing further her tense grip released him, letting Daxter fall headfirst onto the cushion of the couch that he had once comfortably been sleeping on before he realized their friends had inexplicably vanished. He bounced off of it and flew up into the air before landing in an upright position.

"Look, Ashelin, honestly." He began, rubbing his head where his goggles had been mashed into his skull upon impact. Holding his hands up in manner of appeasement, he meanwhile prayed that the other three would suddenly reappear before Ashelin skinned him. "Maybe you set down yer little communicator thing-a-ma-bob, and then I just so happened to fall asleep on this here sofa. Maybe I rolled over onto it! But I didn't mean to! Honest!"

"You _just so happened _to fall asleep on it? _Really._"

Uh-oh. Time for a different tactic.

"Well, why wasn't it in _your _pocket?" Daxter shot back, his peripheral vision telling him that there was in fact a receptionist sitting behind the desk in the lobby, so at least if she killed him, he'd have a witness. Even if that witness looked just about ready to wet himself. He was putting some device back on its hook, but the ottsel had more pressing matters on his hands at the moment that deserved more focus than his wondering just who the man was calling.

Namely the red-headed angry woman who looked just about ready to kill him.

_Well, I can't say my life sucked too much, right? It would just be a heackuva lot better to go some other way…_

Daxter cowered before the woman advancing toward him, closing his eyes tightly and trying to shield himself with his thin arms. He felt her presence loom before him, causing him to wind himself into a tight bundle before she could-

"E-excuse me?"

"Oh thank the Precursors," Daxter quietly mumbled, he and Ashelin both turning their attention to the pasty-faced boyish man seated behind the front desk.

"What?" Ashelin shot back, her hands automatically going to her hips. The man gulped.

"Were…were you waiting for that e-elevator at all?" He asked, clasping his shaking hands together in response to the look he was given by the woman. The ottsel had practically passed out in relief that he hadn't been killed.

"Yes we were." She said. She paused before she continued, not overly comfortable with giving out too much information, but figuring that it might help her current predicament. "Actually, we were waiting for some people to come back down here so we could _leave_. Why?"

There was a pause. Daxter felt his heart rate return to normal. A cleaning lady down the hall sneezed. Some old man said gesundheit to her.

"…One of them stopped working." The receptionist replied after clearing his throat multiple times and preparing to hit a panic button. (He'd also failed to mention that one of the people on the stopped lift had called him to say so. It also sounded like the man really had to use the restroom, and was in fear for his own life due to what he may have said to the others in the elevator with him.) Both males in the room collectively held their breath when the fiery woman finally exploded.

"Well that's just _great!_" Ashelin blurted in an annoyed and sarcastic manner. Before she could begin to either rant or continually seethe the doors to one of the two elevators slid open, resulting in heads to swivel toward it, expecting three familiar faces to emerge with their things and offer excuses as to why they were two hours behind schedule.

All they found was a random woman grasping the arm of a little boy.

"Lookie mama! It's just like a tree all lit up!" He exclaimed happily, pointing to the board of floor numbers as his mother released a sound close to a whimper. In all actuality, it looked more like a dead Metalhead that had been killed by a KG Deathbot before it had shut down, and then they were both crushed by a fallen building that had been destroyed by an avalanche of boulders before a giant bomb was dropped on it. All-in-all, it was nothing like the kid imagined it was. The mother made a comment to herself about how she would never again allow her son to press the number '3' button –because according to him, 'Honey please press number three, okay?' meant 'jab at all the buttons and see what happens.' (There were still four floors left to go before they finally made it to their destination.)

The doors slid closed, and Ashelin turned her attention back to the man and-a-half to continue her annoyed rant. Before she could proceed however, a glint of metal in the wall by the elevators caught her eye.

Daxter didn't like that look she was giving him. It also didn't help that he had a pretty good idea of just what she was thinking.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no." He shook his head fiercely, waving his hands in front of him. "Nu-uh, not a chance. Zippo, zip, finito, nadda, nope."

"Daxter-"

"There is no way you could ever make me-"

Oh, but she could.

_Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet._

The trio winced as a high-pitched sound emitted from the numbered board as a result of the big red button being pressed. Jak momentarily forgot what he was going to say to Keira, and Torn momentarily lost his hearing. The irritating buzz was cut short when a voice finally responded, much to the relief of the couple on the floor and the now-partially-deaf Torn.

"…H-hello?" Torn glanced at the slightly confused look of the other two upon hearing a voice that sounded like it belonged to a twelve-year-old going through puberty.

"Uh, yeah, hi. Listen, this the front desk?" Torn was nothing if not immediately to-the-point. Just ask Jak. Or Ashelin. But um, preferably Jak. Ashelin probably wouldn't say too much here for some random, unknown, irrelevant reasons.

There was a pause. The three wondered if the guy had suddenly died for no real reason.

"Um, yeah, i-it is." He audibly gulped, his words also garbled by the meager speaker situated just about the buttons. "Can I help you?"

The two seated on the floor half-expected steam to burst from Torn's nostrils. Apologetically disregarding Jak's un-started speech for the time being, Keira stood and took command. Torn leaned against the wall facing the door, frowning and folding his arms. That glare of his wasn't too un-noticeable either.

"You can actually," Keira began, chancing a glance at Jak who had been studying Torn, who was preparing to knock him out in order to keep _him _from killing anyone for a change. He looked up at the mechanic and shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly a bit miffed at the fact that he'd had to withdraw his arm. And his speech was still non-existent. (Nevermind the fact that he was still trying to think one up so he didn't have to make it up as he went along.) "Ah, our elevator stopped working, so we were wondering if you could-"

"I know." Was the sole reply they received. Torn huffed in the background as Keira gave the speaker a dumbfounded look. Jak was the first of the three to speak.

"If you know, why have you done anything about it?" Three points for his re-growing bad-ass-ness.

"Um, well," The receptionist took a breath. "Look, I'm trying to stop a homicide from occurring in the front lobby, and our chief mechanic's on a lunch break so-"

"Homicide?" Keira cut in, leaning against the wall next to Jak, trying to think of just who would try to kill someone in the lobby of all places. Torn's glare quavered a bit as exchanged a look with Jak, who pretty much could have cared less at the moment.

"Y-Yeah. There's some woman trying to …kill her pet, I think. I…I dunno. She's mad at him or somethin', got him hanging by his tail. Holyshi- He looks terrified!" Judging by his tone, the receptionist was pretty 'terrified' himself.

Torn let out a bark of laughter as this registered. Jak snorted as Keira slide down the wall to sit next to him, covering her mouth with her hands as her shoulders shook.

Poor Daxter, the world hardly knew ye.

"I, um, I have to go…" The petrified reception abruptly quipped, albeit his voice had gotten even softer than it's already gentle tone. "…And um, stop any unnecessary bloodshed. I, uh, I'll send someone to…to come get you s-soon. The um, mechanic guy should be back soon."

And then he promptly hung up on them.

"That's helpful." Jak muttered from his position against the wall as Torn let out a few otherwise choice words in regards to the man that had just given up on them and the fact that he still had to pee, dammit. The younger duo remained on the floor before Torn had finally had enough and plopped down in a fairly ungraceful manner.

The humming of the back-up lightning above them was the only sound in the silence that briefly followed.

"-Augh, I hate this. Why I oughtta- You know, she didn't have to be so…so gah, whatever she is. Does she not realize this is animal abuse? The fact that _I _Orange Lightning have been degraded to climbing through vents? Oh! And the fact that I _have no idea where I'm going?_"

-For the record, let it be known that it was not like Torn to apologize profusely –in fact, whenever he did so, it was mainly out of sarcasm often directed toward Daxter. However, given the reality that was a fairly perturbed couple situated only a few feet from him and the reminder that he'd asked a fairly personal question, he was obviously better off offering them some sort of apology for what he'd said.

But honestly? It was much harder than it ought to have been.

Keira rested her head on Jak's shoulder, allowing her eyes to close as the boy's head bobbed tiredly, letting out a small, silent yawn. Torn would have thought the scene 'cute' had it not been for his grimace and the fact that he personally found nothing cute. But that was just him.

"Look," The tattooed commander paused for a moment, both to ensure that the two were listening to him and to think up something to say. Both of them opened their eyes and looked up at him, Jak's arm once more finding its way around the mechanic's shoulders. "Alright. You know that question I asked you?"

Keira frowned. "Yes, I remember _that_ one. Do you need me to repeat what I said?"

Not only was Torn not fond of her tone, but that hadn't been what he was referring to. He shrugged, figuring he might as well go along with it. "Well no-"

The gentle snickering of the blond hero cut him off, earning the former a steely look from the no-nonsense commander.

"Oh yeah? And what say you, smart ass?"

Jak froze; frowning not only at the insult, but at the fact that his speech to Keira was still in the works –a.k.a. a complete failure for the most part. He opened his mouth in order to completely wing it, but Torn abruptly waved his hand, effectively interrupting and cutting off the blond. With an exasperated sigh Jak rolled his eyes before he closed them, tilting his head back and smacking it against the wall behind him, resulting in an annoyed grunt.

"Nevermind, I don't want to hear it. Even if _you_-" He pointed at the mechanic. "-do. Besides, that's not the question I meant. I was talking about …the, uh, that other one." He cleared his throat, gauging their reactions. Keira was actually giving him her full attention, whereas Jak still had his eyes closed and an irritated expression due to his head's collision with the accursed elevator. "You know, _that _question."

Keira nodded. "And…?"

"I'm getting there! Shut up!" Torn responded, jabbing a finger in her general direction. One of her eyebrows quirked, but he really could have cared less. Jak was finally coming back to the realm of the living. He blinked a few times; unsure of whether he should glare or simply sit back and stare. "Now if you would both _be quiet _and let me say what I have to say, then you can both go back to doing …whatever you were doing."

Surprisingly, they were both silent.

"Look, here's the thing. When I asked that, it's not like I really meant it. I mean, it's not like I _wanted _to know, because believe me, no way in hell would I ever want to. That's your business. Not mine." They were both giving him blank looks, giving him some encouragement to continue. "So you see, that was actually the first thing that came to mind, and I know I shouldn't have asked it, but I did. Oh well, so what. We can all accept it and get over it. "

"But you know, when I asked that question, well, what I actually meant was something completely different. Because you know, doing _it _doesn't necessarily mean you love each other. And if you do, by all means, go for it, who cares. And then you…Nevermind, I don't want to continue this conversation anymore."

There was a pause. Jak suddenly found himself wondering if Torn's brain was melting as a result of said conversation.

"Put it this way. Sex does not equal love." He gulped. "Actually, you know what?" He gestured in their general direction with the wave of a hand, his reality caving in on him. "Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die."

Suffice to say, no one really knew how to respond to that, and as such, it was silent once more. …If only. Keira glanced up at Jak from where her head rested against his shoulder, taking in the confused, baffled, and some what 'weirded _out_' look he was giving Torn. Getting the impression that someone was currently staring a hole into his cheek, his gaze flicked down toward Keira, having caught her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. There was a non-verbal exchange between the two, which Jak nonchalantly shrugged at as a result.

As per usual for the past hour, Keira was the one to break the silence, as awkward and generally unwanted as it was.

"Well I…" She paused, feeling Jak's arm give her a gentle squeeze of reassurance. (In all actuality, he had no idea what she was going to say. He just thought it would be in his best interest to go along with it.) "…We forgive you, Torn."

Torn wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

"Yeah, well, you see I-"

For the past three hours, it had become second nature for Torn to be continually cut-off, never to finish what he wanted to say. This time however, all three found themselves gazing up at the ceiling of the lift, both their brows and confusion rising.

"What is that?" Keira hissed, unconsciously curling into Jak in response to the scraping noise currently resounding around them from outside of said elevator. Torn found himself reaching for his belt feeling for the pistol that- oh right, he didn't have. Could things get any worse for the poor sap?

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good." Jak muttered back, his eyes tracing the upper corners, following the noise. "It sounds like it's coming from up top, but I-"

"Holy son of a beached yakkow-!" Torn exclaimed randomly, causing the other two to turn to him ready to ask what the hell his problem was.

Instead they saw one of the panels fall from the ceiling and hit Torn square in the head.

Despite the fact that they was definitely _not _the time to be laughing, Jak couldn't help but snicker at the fact that Torn now lay in a fairly ungraceful manner, knocked unconscious by the fallen panel now slumped across his torso.

However, he definitely wasn't laughing at the orange blur that also fell with the panel, some how bouncing off said ceiling tile, and then promptly landing in the chest of his girlfriend. Without a second thought he yanked Daxter away from Keira, much to the dazed ottsel's slight disdain.

"Well _hello _there to you too." He muttered with a smirk, masking his discomfort with the fact that his best friend was currently holding him up by the scruff of his neck. He took in both of their fairly bewildered expressions before he continued. "So…how're…things?"

"What's that smell?" Jak murmured, making a face at the sudden putrid stench.

"It's best if you don't ask." Daxter replied shaking his head.

"What are you covered in?" Keira asked, squinting at the two foot-ten once human now orange mammal. Daxter in turn stared her dead in the eye, normally humorous now utterly serious.

"Hun you don't _want _to know." At that Jak simply let go of his friend, letting him fall to the floor, absently shaking the gloved hand he'd been holding him up with in attempts to rid himself of whatever grim Daxter had been unfortunate enough to get caught up in. For what's it was worth, Torn was still pretty much dead to the world.

"Now that that's settled…" Daxter mumbled, picking himself up off the floor, brushing at his torso with his hands, causing dust –and was that _hair_?- to fall to his feet and collect there in a small heap. "Just what are you guys doing here?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Jak grumbled, his arm still loosely around Keira, though his face had now gotten slightly red at the notion that his best friend could now openly view his arm around his other… 'friend.'

"Yeah well, let's not discuss that right now." He huffed, shivering at the memory and giving Jak and Keira the hint that it was best if they didn't question Daxter about the past ten minutes. The light sigh escaping Torn's lips caught their attention once more.

"Is he alright?" Keira muttered to Jak, never taking her eyes off the unconscious ex-Kg-Underground-now-Freedom-League-Commander. "Is he dead?"

Because Jak had a scientific approach to most things –i.e. either shooting something or tackling it before beating the crap out of it, he did what he had to do. He reached out a nudged Torn with his foot, getting a disgruntled, well, _grunt _in response.

"He'll be fine." He muttered back, looking back at Daxter.

"Um…So how have you guys been here?" The ottsel quipped, combining his fingers through the fur on his arm for lack of anything better to do. He flinched at the narrowed eyes of the two seated before him.

"We lost track of time a few hours ago." Jak grumbled, getting that creeping feeling up the back of his neck. If didn't get out of there in the next few minutes, someone was going to pay dearly for locking the claustrophobic warrior in such a small enclosed space. Thank you for that Praxis, the world already owes you so much.

Subconsciously he began grinding his teeth at the mere memory of the now dead man and those two years in which he had truly lost himself. Keira and Daxter –and perhaps Torn too, maybe- weren't obliviously to the sudden alteration in his skin tone and hair color, however, and it was difficult to miss the widening of his pupils as well.

Jak was thrown headlong back into reality the moment Daxter opened his mouth, however.

"But 'cha know, I think you'll be pleased to know that I, Orange Lightning, have a plan…"

With the promise of freedom, why did Daxter's words form that horrible light knot in the pit of his stomach? And that little voice in the back of his head wasn't sounding so hopeful either…

The bellhop-receptionist-whatsit man was ready to crawl under his desk, curl into a ball and cry.

After all, with what that woman had done to the talking mammal, who was to say she wouldn't do to the same to him? His fingers shook and he jabbed at keys on the pad before him, watching the light clearly stating the fact that one of the elevators was stopped flicker ominously. All he had to do was press that one button to unlock-

He whimpered at her abrupt cry of rage, arms flying out and knocking over small objects adorning his desk. He sent his bottle of water flying behind him where is bounced off with a tired _thud _and rolled around on the floor, stopping when it came in contact with the back of his foot. His startled yelp was enough to startle Ashelin, who wheeled around in a fairly crazed manner, tearing her attention away from the wall in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He cowered as the woman advanced, holding the gleaming piece of metal that she'd ripped from the wall only moments ago. All of this stress and worry definitely wasn't good for the poor man's heart. In all honesty, it was a shock that he hadn't keeled over already. He held his arms and hands before him defensively when she tossed the metal onto the desk, causing him to glance down in bewilderment. "What are you-"

"Bring them down here _now_." She hissed, leaning forward and threatening to grasp his collar with her hand –which she did.

"I have no idea what you-"

"Oh yes, you _do_." She snickered darkly, her eyes darting to that small iridescent bulb off to the side. The man gulped, fumbling with the pad while throwing reservation papers over it in attempts to hide it from her view.

"I-I-"

"You will bring them down here now. Or else."

Yeah, he _really _didn't want to stick around long enough to find out just what "or else" was.

"You did _what?_" Keira screamed. She stared at Daxter wide-eyed, Jak giving his friend the same dumbfounded expression.

"Dax, you didn't…"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" He shot back, folding his arms and glaring at Jak. "It's not like I can read her mind y'know. And why the hell would I wanna? It's probably chock full o' different methods of killing me. Dear god, I wouldn't be surprised."

"At the moment, neither would I," Keira replied, shaking her head at him. There was a slight smirk to her features however, which earned her a brief muttering from Daxter.

"Yeah well," He jabbed a finger in her general direction, but then paused when he finally took in the arm draped across her shoulders. Pfft, took him long enough. He'd been standing there for the past fifteen minutes or so, give or take. The corner of his mouth rose in a lopsided grin. "Oh _I _see what's going on here!"

Keira reached forward and flicked him deftly on the forehead, but was not so easily swayed, and his grin remained despite the short sting in his brow.

"Well it took ya long enough!" He exclaimed, waving his hands at both of them.

"Wonder _why…_" Jak muttered, much to Daxter's chagrin.

"I resent that."

"If it weren't for you-"

"Hey," Keira cut in, just as Jak was about to verbally take Daxter out to the cleaners. As much as she would have liked to see him tell off the fur ball for the past few moments he'd so actively ruined, she'd rather not have Daxter become a near-victim for the second near-homicide he'd almost experienced in one day. Besides, she'd take him out later. "Do you think that maybe we could _try _to get along for a bit, seeing as we're all still trapped in here?"

Daxter let out a anxious chuckle.

"Yeah, ah, about that..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The receptionist repeated, fumbling blindly for the pad. This woman had a remarkable strength to her, which he was unfortunate enough to learn as her grasp on his collar tightened. "I called the repairman; he should be taking care of things soo-"

"You know something, I know you do." Ashelin nearly growled, her other hand griping the metal she'd brought over to him, having ripped it off the wall and out of the ventilation system in order to shove Daxter through the not-so-spacious-nor-clean system. "And you will tell me, unless you wish to become best friends with this grate."

That's it. It was _so _time to find a new job.

"That's _really _not funny, Daxter." Keira murmured, having been told that the orange brute before her had been working on knowing on the cables holding the lift in place.

"Oh relax, I just joki-"

As luck would have it, fate seemed to hate Torn at the time, seeing as how he finally woke up just in time for the stuck elevator to come sailing down.

And he would never admit it, but no one was sure who was screaming the loudest, though there's a pretty good chance that it was either he or Daxter.

Well, looks like Jak got his initial wish.

* * *

**A/N:** OR DID HE? The world may never know.  
Until the next and final actual chapter. Which is being edited and worked on. That's right.

And so my cousin typically beta's this for me, but I didn't have the patience to wait forever and a day to send it to her and get it back. If I find any mistakes, you can be sure I'll go and fix them.

NEXT CHAPTER: Is the last one. Jak gets a spiel much like Keira's, but again, longer. And prolly more dramatic.  
AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO WAIT MONTHS FOR IT EITHER!  
...hopefully.

We'll see.

I'm out. ;D


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** It took longer than I wanted to, but this was also difficult to finish. D; It's my baaaabyyy hereeeee. But this is and will be the last chapter. There are one or two bonus chapters that'll come after this, but those may take a bit too, seeing how there are other things I have to finish, and… well, that's just how it seems to go for this story. xD  
Because usually I can't write without music going, this chapter was inspired by Blue October's "You Make Me Smile" and Lifehouse's "All In" "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Falling In." Hey, you laugh, but it's true.  
BUT IT TOOK ME A YEAR TO FINISH THIS. 'CAUSE LIKE, I'M A FAILURE WHEN IT COMES TO FINISHING THINGS AND SETTING DEADLINES FOR MYSELF. In fact, I like to wave at those moments as they pass by. –waves-  
What is this madness?  
It's Spargus.

And thank you LeiaOrganicSolo, because if you hadn't of kicked my butt way back when, I wouldn't have written this chapter as it was, and another thank you to jakxkeiraaddict for all those reviews that really made me want to finish all these stories, especially this one.  
That's right. I said it. You two are officially part of this story. :D

Thanks guys. c:  
And of course, thank you to everyone else who took it upon themselves to leave a review. You guys ROCK.

* * *

The screaming was abruptly cut off by the flickering and then sudden death of the back-up lighting they'd been surviving in for the past few hours, and the three –now _four_- found themselves with their stomachs lodged in their throats as they continued to plummet. Jak's face was beginning to darken with the sensation of the free fall that was stealing the breath out of his lungs, and also the fact that Keira was latched onto him like there was no tomorrow.

Thankfully, the plunge only had a short lifetime, and the small posse found themselves being thrown against the semi-stained carpet of the lift. The enclosed space was silent save for the uneven breathing and the moaning and groaning going on –everyone was waiting for someone to start going "My leeeg, my leeeg."- and it took a few minutes for them all to regain their bearings.

Jak of course, then found himself practically on top of his kinda-sorta-not-really-um-darn-it-Jak-make-up-your-mind girlfriend.

Though that was probably a result from the death-grip she had around his throat.

Still, it was slightly awkward how he now found himself hovering over her and staring into her wide-eyed overly startled look with a similar expression, despite the fact that neither one could see the other's face in the darkness. Thankfully, neither Torn nor Daxter had made any mention of their current –and embarrassing for them- position. Yet.

Tentatively Jak pulled away, if not only to ensure that he didn't crush her knee cap with his weight, but also in order to make sure he didn't end up sitting on Daxter either.

"GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF MY FACE." The garbled voice that belonged to the angered, annoyed, drained, exhausted, worn-out, disgruntled, and otherwise described by a series of negative adjectives Commander, who had begun yelling in his corner of the lift. Wherever that was.

"GET YOUR FACE OUTTA MY BUTT!" The other two weren't sure whether they wanted to laugh or grimace at Daxter's response. Instead they attempted to settle for a few looks that would make them appear somewhat indifferent.

However, it still didn't help that they were still sitting in a dark enclosed space with no real chance of them getting out. If they were lucky, maybe they would still be able to find the door in the next twenty minutes.

Torn still had to pee, dammit.

It didn't help that Jak was currently rocking on the balls of his feet due to being unable to sit –Torn's legs were in the way- and he was too afraid to extend his arms for fear of smacking Keira –or Daxter- in the head. But of course one of his hands shot out reflexively to maintain his balance, and then _of course _just so happened to grab something slightly rounded.

"Um, Jak?"

_Oh please, for the love of everything that is half-decent, please, please, _please_, let that be her knee._

Whatever it was that he had his hand on shifted under his grip, and he felt something brush against his fingertips.

Jak had never been happier to have accidentally grabbed her shoulder. And he was also extremely thankful of the fact that she hadn't noticed how red his face was. In an attempt to get up his diminishing façade of mega manliness, Jak cleared his throat nonchalantly.

"Ah, sorry." He licked his dry lips, failing to see the look of confusion donning her facial features.

Obviously, Torn had finally been able to dislodge Daxter's rear-end from his face, considering the fact that he promptly flung the short, orange, furry boy at the back of Jak's end, causing the latter head to bob and mash his mouth against Keira's forehead. Any other time it would have been sweet. This time around, he was just hoping it wasn't her eye he was mashing him.

"Sorry," Jak muttered again as Keira shifted into a corner to get out of the fray. Jak took a seat somewhere against the wall, pulling Daxter away from Torn and plopping him down somewhere in the darkness. The ottsel landed with a not overly enthusiastic thump, and his friend could only guess that he was glaring in the Tattooed Wonder's general direction.

"_Please excuse the technical difficulties. It appears as though the lift you are currently riding has halted. Please do not worry, as repairs have begun and you will be on your way in a matter of minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please have a nice day._"

Silence.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" It was a safe bet to say it was Torn, already as annoyed as he was, and this metallic voice was definitely not helping anything. Annoying twit.

"No bloodshed, please." Keira murmured sarcastically, stretching her arms out before her, dragging them back against the floor, when she felt something brush against her hand. Lo and behold, there lay Torn's communicator on the ground. Or at least, she thought it was. Hoped it was.

There was a startled gasp at the sudden faint glow, followed quickly by a surprise cry, a _thwack _and then a yelp of pain.

"_Ow! _What was _that_ for?" The mammal shouted, rubbing a hand against his wounded temple. "Why're ya throwing things at me? Sheesh."

"You just… Your face." Keira trailed off, and it instantly clicked in the minds of the two men that their only means of communication with the outside world had just been chucked at Daxter's head. _Hard_.

"What about my mug? Didn't do anything to you." Daxter grumbled, hand still pressed to his head.

"No, you made a face. Don't you ever make that face again." There was a bit of scrambling around, and then the glow returned once more.

"Oh, you mean…This one?" He spun around to face her, and Jak got a front row seat to an expression he never planned to see, and never again wanted to. Keira raised her hands in the universal 'stop' gesture.

"That is _not _the first thing I want to see when the lights come back on." She stated, closing her eyes and shaking her head at him while he shrugged.

"Well 'cuse me..." He replied in a drawl, when all four of their heads suddenly turned to the doors of the elevator –at least, that's what they thought they were looking at- at the abrupt noise of metal being scratched. The sound of inorganic materials seemingly trying to eat each other continued, and a line of the light broke into their surroundings.

Torn had never once been happier to see Ashelin. Annoyed expression or not.

"Oh sweet Precursors," He muttered and stood.

And then promptly collapsed out in the hallway, practically kissing the polished stone floor.

The red-head stared down at the exhausted man on the ground before her, and then lifted her gaze to the trio still seated in the lift.

"What the _hell?_"

Keira shook her head and then stood slowly, trying to get some feeling back into her legs. Daxter quickly scampered out and darted between Ashelin's legs, ignoring her irritated comment aimed at him. Thinking that was it, Jak let out a silent sigh and shook his head, still miffed at having been unable to tell Keira what he'd meant to only minutes earlier. His gaze downcast, Jak hadn't noticed that the girl had extended her hand out to him until he saw that her feet hadn't moved.

He glanced up at her, taking in her timid smile before uncertainly reaching out to take her head. Now she smiled fully, together exiting the elevator that they had just spent the last few hours of their lives trapped in.

Jak noticed that she still had yet to let go of him.

Not that he minded, but hey. Let him have another brain fart and be utterly confused about what was going on. It's how he was workin' it at the moment.

Ashelin half-scowled, half-stared down blankly at the man sprawled across the floor and who also had yet to pull himself into an upright and decent position. Well, he had spent the past few hours stuck playing matchmakers no thanks to Ashelin, Tess, and Orange Lightening, so let him enjoy those few moments of floor hugging before he again realized that he still had to use the bathroom facilities.

_Precursors Jak, just do it. You're probably going to hell already, so just get this over with. If she can do it, it won't kill you. …Yet. Samos'll take care of that._

As the governess finally spotted the orange nuisance that had attempted to dart off unscathed, she quickly reverted to a 'thou shalt not pass' attitude and immediately began telling him off. Not that Jak didn't care and all, but that fact that the mechanic was still clutching his hand had taken away most of his attention.

Despite the realization that her grip was loosening. Frowning, the idea of going back to the way things were before passed through Jak's mind, only deepening his grimace.

_Not this time._

To say that Keira was shocked at the tug on her hand would have been an understatement. But in that moment, she was subconsciously just thankful that her surprise was enough to block out the blush that wanted to spread itself across her face, due to him grabbing her hand of his own doing.

Hey, she'd really just offered hers to him in order to help the boy up off the floor, but if that was how he wanted to interpret that gesture, then that was fine by her.

"Um, Jak?" The mere utterance of his name was more a question than anything, and her quizzical look was already eating its way through his resolve. He blew some air out of the side of his mouth, giving her the indication that he was about to say something, and something _big _at that.

"Can we…talk?" She blinked at him, and all but began fidgeting right then and there. "I mean, do you mind if we did?"

Keira blinked again, and then had to mentally slap herself.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." If it weren't for the small smile that she gave him and the reassuring squeeze to his hand, Jak probably would have high-tailed it out of there muttering some along the lines of _'Oh, um, nevermind. Um, Metalheads. You know, gotta kill some…..blow up…save the world, that sort of thing.'_

The other three were still off in their own little world of being yelled at and then suddenly remembering they really had to use the bathroom, a fact the two weren't too bothered by. If anything, it made Jak feel better about what he was about to do.

…If he ever got around to doing it.

"Maybe not…here." He said, eyeing their companions warily. Keira got the hint, giving him a curt nod and trailing along behind him as he quickly spun around the corner into some randomly deserted hallway. And he still hadn't let go of her hand. At least he was getting somewhere. Sort of.

But then his grip relaxed and he released her, pausing a few steps in front of the girl with his back to her and taking a couple of breaths to more or less steel his resolve. Whether or not she was troubled by this, Keira said nothing and silently watched as he swallowed and turned back to her.

Never mind that the fact that her heart was pounding too damn hard to be able to relax properly, of course. And how she was trying to convince herself that nothing bad would come of this, despite how unsettled Jak appeared.

The silence was almost painful now. They were both partially surprised that Jak was the first to break it as well.

"You…you know how Torn asked us that question?" Keira's eyes widened a fraction while Jak gulped and quickly backtracked when the realization finally hit him. There was a pause as he tried to find words, and Keira shifted uncomfortably. Yes, she remembered _that _question. But Jak- was that what he really wanted? Was that what he was getting at? Not only was that a now extremely touchy subject, but, er, were they really going to have to- alright, now the situation had become awkward. Both their faces had a dusting of pink to them.

"No! I-I didn't mean _that _question." Jak hurriedly supplied through the slight tension. The mechanic wasn't sure if she ought to have felt relieved or unsettlingly perturbed. There was silence as his mind worked to come up with some wording that wouldn't give her the wrong idea.

"It's just that… Well you know I'm not very good with words."

Keira nodded mutely, shrugging as well.

"No, I mean, Torn asked…" His brow furrowed. "He asked you how you felt, and I never exactly responded to you-"

"No Jak!" Keira abruptly cut in, still embarrassed by the way she had answered that question. "If you don't…I mean, if you didn't… Well, I wasn't trying to… If you want to just return to the way things were before, then…" In a sad way, it was almost amusing to watch a flustered Keira, through Jak didn't really think that at the moment.

_Say it now or forever hold your peace, dumbass._

"But I don't." He'd said it in such a rush that he was surprised he'd even understood it. The slapped in the face look Keira had had the same general implication.

"What?" She whispered, partly to herself.

_You brought this upon yourself._

"I don't want…I don't want to go back to square one." He shook his head, attempting to look her in the eye, but feeling too flustered to actually do so. He wasn't overly fond of the giant gap between them either. And so he took a step toward her, hoping he wasn't being to forward.

She inched closer to him as well, finding it difficult to hear him, seeing as his voice had begun to trail off.

His gaze stuck itself where the wall met the floor, and he could feel hers somewhere on his forehead, waiting patiently for what he had to say.

"I don't…I don't really know how to word this at all, so I'm just going to wing it." He let this sink in for them both, trying to think of what to say next. "I don't know how I feel," He murmured. He might as well have just punched her in the stomach, seeing as he would have gotten generally the same reaction.

"I didn't mean it like that," Jak once again murmured, somehow finding the ability to bring his gaze up to her face, looking her in the eye as he spoke. "I just…I don't know what to call it. What to say."

"I've really never been good with words, considering that fact I never really spoke, way back when. The first thing I even remember actually saying is _I'm gonna kill Praxis_, so I think you can see how this is going so far." Suffice to say, he was shocked that he even made it this far without giving himself a brain hemorrhage. "I don't really know how to put feelings into words to say how I feel about you, but I-"

He broke off, and timidly reached for her hand again.

"But this feels…right?" He frowned at himself. "But I still really don't know what to say. I care about you, I swear it. I just don't know how to say what I really, truly feel. Does that make sense?" His molars gnashed together in the back of his mouth.

"It's just that these last few weeks made me realize a lot of things." He glanced up at her again, and couldn't help the small grin on his face. "Like how defiant you can be toward your father." Keira smirked abashedly at the thought, chewing at her lip. The smiles faded as his tone changed into something more serious and appropriate for their current discussion.

"And how I don't want to lose people," _Especially you,_ had been his main thought, though he was still plucking up the courage to say so. "I will admit that when Krew's diary announced that we were poisoned, and you grabbed my hand, I…" He took a breath, and she stared at him with a mix of curiosity and thoughtfulness. "I was… I was _scared._" Her breath caught somewhere in the back of her throat as he said this. "Because then there was the thought, the chance, the _possibility_ that something could happen to you. And I will also admit that toward the end when we weren't doing so hot…" He trailed off for a moment, visualizing the memory of overhearing Keira hiding in the bathroom with Ashelin and the words _Don't tell Jak _as the mechanic lost her lunch for the third time that day as a result of the poison she'd swallowed. "I actually thought something was going to happen."

"And I wasn't going to live with that. It was my fault you were there in the first place, and I'll be damned if anything else happens to you while I'm around."

"It took me four years to kiss you once, and that same four to tell you how I feel." Mostly. Jak still hadn't given that feeling a name yet. A gloved hand rose to her face; fingertips finding themselves wrapped in multi-colored hair. "You asked what happened to me in those two years. You asked…where I was. What happened."

"I got scared. I got completely scared and terrified." He swallowed once to prepare himself for his confession. "I thought I was going to die. And at one point, I wanted to. I wanted something bad to happen –something _really bad_ so that I didn't have to live through to the next day and have the same thing happen all over again. Maybe they would have experimented with my dead body. Tried to bring it back to life." Something flashed through his eyes, and Keira could tell that she'd lost part of Jak to nostalgia. "But I didn't care what they would do with me once I was dead. At least I wouldn't be able to feel it, be able to know…"

"Keira," Her name was abrupt, and he was jerked back into reality at the moisture grazing down his thumb. Her eyelids rapidly opened and closed, but weren't enough to stop the onslaught of tears flowing into his hand. "I didn't mean… I wasn't trying to…I'm sorry. Keira."

Jak pulled her to him, letting her bury her wet face in his chest, her arms sliding under his jacket to wrap around his body. He stared blankly at the wall opposite him, partly ashamed and beside himself for what he'd said. "That wasn't necessary, I shouldn't have said it."

His nose tucked into her hair, he held her as she cried.

"He knew where to find you," He whispered into her tresses, as if those few words would compensate for his angry and somewhat irrelevant speech just moments before. "He told me that if I tried anything… If I gave up or stopped being their lab rat, he said that he would find you and bring you in for _questioning,_ or to show you what they were doing."

"I couldn't let you see…" Her grip tightened. "For the longest time I didn't even want you to know what happened to me. Any other assumption you had I would have preferred: Dropped into the Wasteland, lost in Haven Forest, anything would have been better than the truth."

"But I guess his threat worked, kept me alive." He tried not to fidget now. "I told myself that when I made it through hell I was going to get back at them for everything they'd done, and then I was taking you all home, wherever that was."

Keira didn't respond for a while, and Jak was afraid that he'd said something wrong. Rather than voicing this concern however, he simply stood there, keeping his arms folded around her. He'd been prepared for anything she could say to him then other than the short confession she suddenly made.

"He told me you were dead," She whispered into the fold of his shirt. Jak's back stiffened. "I told him I was looking for my father, Daxter, and you. And then after almost two years, he came back to the garage and told me that he'd done everything he could. He said he couldn't find the others, but you…" She chewed at her lip.

"He had your goggles. And I believed him."

She sighed, pulling away from his slightly, her eyes still focused on the wall.

"I spent two years in Haven and befriended the one person I thought I could trust and he was the one screwing up my best friend's life." She sighed with discontent. "And I said _you _were a bad judge of character."

They both winced, and Jak felt a flash of anger run through him. Keira raised her gaze to met his and stared him dead in the eye.

"I only said he was a better racer because Tess told me to –to make you jealous. But I guess that kind of back-fired, didn't it?" She didn't even wait for his response. "And you thought that I actually cared about him…" She let out a short and spiteful laugh, her gaze roving downwards once more.

"I need to apologize for what I said though." Keira turned back to him, and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. "It was out of line, and I never meant any of it." She closed her eyes and sighed, debating if she should continue or not.

"Doesn't matter."

"Jak-" Her eyes shot open, and she found his face only inches from hers, if not closer.

"I said 'doesn't matter.'" He murmured again and his lips brushed against hers briefly, leaving her baffled and speechless at his boldness. He smirked at her coyly for a moment.

"You're still…kinda amazing, you know that?" Jak blurted, then immediately embarrassed by it, judging by his sudden blush. _Real smooth, Jak._

"No Jak, I'm not." She blinked at him, her head shaking in confusion at his statement. Obviously, he still thought otherwise.

"You've been there, even when I told you to get out or leave me alone, but no matter what I did, you were still there." He appeared dazed, almost in wonderment at her persistence over the years. His brow twitched downward. "I've done all these bad things though."

Keira placed a hand on his shoulder, the other brushing against Jak's face. "Maybe a few yes, but that doesn't define you."

"But there are still all these other great people who have done all these extraordinary things, so why me? What have I really done for those people? For anyone? I ended up hurting everybody I know. I know I hurt you, you can't deny that Keira. I've really got nothing to offer you. I really have…" There was a fire in his eyes, and Keira wasn't sure what to think in that moment. "I really am nothing."

"You are _not _nothing Jak." She frowned at him and this thought, despite the playful gleam in her own eye. "Don't you ever think that."

He almost wanted to shrug at her when she said this, but instead watched her actions mutely.

"And I…I don't have much to offer you yourself." She reached down, taking one of his slightly larger hands in hers before she raised it toward her, placing his palm against her chest so that he could feel the steady beat of her heart. She then looked up at him, blushing slightly at this act, but also with a fierce stubbornness that shot through her. "But this is all I've got."

Jak inclined his head in a nod, practically offering the same thing that she wholeheartedly accepted. Her other hand slid down to his neck, titled his head closer to hers. Keira gave a small smile as her eyelids slid a bit. His growing smirk only increased at her next statement.

"But if we're in this, we're in this for the long haul."

And then he truly smiled at her.

"I think I can live with that." He murmured, enjoying the giggle that bubbled out of her throat while his hand went to cup her chin. He suddenly paused in uncertainty.

"Do you mind?" She blinked at him numbly before she let another short laugh.

"You have to _ask_?"

And for once in his life, Jak was glad Daxter was preoccupied with having his life threatened.

_And Keira?_

At least he finally got to kiss Keira without any interruptions in that moment.

_I think I love you_.

* * *

**A/N: **Sappy ending is sappy.  
Oh my god, ending. As in, the end. Fin. Finito. Done.  
Oh god, now what am I going to do with myself? This is DONE. Took a year, but it is DONE. Kinda proud of that fact, also kinda sad. It was my favorite story here to write. XD  
(So…future JxK stories in the future, methinks? –hinthint ;)-)  
THIS CHAPTER. This one. Would not exist without LeiaOrganicSolo. Gosh, thank you so much girl! This turned out kinda angsty and maybe sappy and emotional, but it was great to write. And it's all your fault it exists, because originally I don't think Jak was going to have a spiel, haha.

I don't really care if it was corny or cheesy anymore. It is what it is. Take it or leave it! Haha.  
And it is the way it is…because Jak is not that great with words. XD

(Also hinted at the fact that I want to write another Jak X story filling in a bunch of blanks! 8D Mostly featuring JakxKeira moments and stuff, but hey. It's how I roll.)

-For your amusement:

Alternate ending: (Otherwise known as something that actually happened in this story after they all left.)

The receptionist was all too happy to watch the posse finally leave the hotel –actually, he was just glad to see the angry threatening lady go, the rest he could handle. He let out a breath through his nose, his hand absently brushing against the button he'd pressed a few minutes ago, chuckling to himself.

That shiny red button…And to think, that's all it took to stop an elevator…

Granted, it wouldn't have been stopped for that long if the red-head hadn't been watching him like an angry Flut-Flut who thought someone stole its food. He would've pressed it along time ago.

Even though it was kinda of amusing for that Ashelin lady to cut into that little love fest between the couple and the man on the floor with the realization that they still had to go and collect their things. Stairs were suddenly their new best friends. Not that they were too happy about it, but that was their problem, not his. Really.

Which served as another quick reminder.

He waited through the rings until that voice piped up –one he was still trying to get used to calling 'boss.'

"I take it everything went as planned," There was a pause as she tried to recall his name. "Cutter?"

"As planned as it could have, I suppose." He grunted, clearing his throat to get his brute and 'manly' voice back. "The blonde and the girl with the funky haired walked off down the hallway to chat, and then they left holding hands, so hey…" He trailed off for a moment in through. "So I guess they're finally together, eh Rayn?"

"Well it took them long enough."  
**-&-&-**

Seeee? Even Rayn knows they belong together.  
But I like the actual ending better. At least now you know who the receptionist was, and Cutter is actually a pretty good actor. And apparently very patsy-faced under his mask, hence why they didn't recognize him, I suppose.

But…this is over.

Thanks again so very much for sticking with me you guys. Those who left reviews and note and all that jazz are amazing. You know who you are. :)

Thank you.

-Bonus chapters! Two of them, actually. One with Torn's 27 messages to Ashelin, and the other with the other Jinx-hitting-on-Keira interaction that Jak was not fond of.  
They'll come...eventually.

:D


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